Stop Censorship
View my latest post re: SOPA and what a joke the “Old Media” industry is.
I don’t usually write too much about politics on my own site, but this is something that seems to be a complete and utter joke. How this got this far is beyond me. As a guy that is in the internet marketing industry and has seen a number of atrocities on almost a daily basis, I am surprised here.
Here is a brief: This week, a bill that would create America’s first Internet censorship system is going to a full committee for a vote, and it is looking like it is fairly likely to actually pass. Go here to stop it: http://americancensorship.org/
This infographic shows a good visual depiction, and the below video does a great job explaining WTF is going on:
From Arstechnica.com:
“Imagine a world in which any intellectual property holder can, without ever appearing before a judge or setting foot in a courtroom, shut down any website’s online advertising programs and block access to credit card payments. The credit card processors and the advertising networks would be required to take quick action against the named website; only the filing of a “counter notification” by the website could get service restored.”
Yes, this is true. I know, I know – it seems like it there is some erratic lunatic coming up with radical ideas in their doomsday bunker. But no, this is coming from Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). Proceeding…
“Calling its plan a “market-based system to protect US customers and prevent US funding of sites dedicated to theft of US property,” the new bill gives broad powers to private actors. Any holder of intellectual property rights could simply send a letter to ad network operators like Google and to payment processors like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, demanding these companies cut off access to any site the IP holder names as an infringer.
The scheme is much like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) “takedown notices,” in which a copyright holder can demand some piece of content be removed from sites like YouTube with a letter. The content will be removed unless the person who posted the content objects; at that point, the copyright holder can decide if it wants to take the person to court over the issue.”
Ah yes, because we need to give big business – namely, record, book and movie companies, more reason to make hundreds of millions of dollars by enacting some stupid law. Hey, maybe it will create a few jobs out of it – anyone want to scour the internet to find a song playing in the background of a homemade YouTube video where a kid is dancing so we can sue the pants off of that family and make a few thousand more dollars? Continuing…
“Here, though, the stakes are higher. Rather than requesting the takedown of certain hosted material, intellectual property owners can go directly for the jugular: marketing and revenue for the entire site. So long as the intellectual property holders include some “specific facts” supporting their infringement claim, ad networks and payment processors will have five days to cut off contact with the website in question.
Note that it doesn’t matter if you posted the content or not – if a USER on your site posts it, you are liable. And yes, that means Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest – everything.
The scheme is largely targeted at foreign websites which do not recognize US law, and which therefore will often refuse to comply with takedown requests. But the potential for abuse—even inadvertent abuse—here is astonishing, given the terrifically outsized stick with which content owners can now beat on suspected infringers.”
Note the other countries that have internet censorship: China, Iran and Syria. The worst thing about it is that the United States sets the standard – especially in the tech and internet industry, and other countries will soon follow. Innovation and experimentation will be halted to a faint pulse. We might as well all sit in silence and never talk to anyone about anything. Ever.
By the way, the reason there is so much support in Congress is because record, book, and movie companies pay lobbyists countless dollars to hound congressmen.
Sigh. Call your congressman please.
